1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piezoelectric lighter with an actuator that operates the ignition system of a cigarette or utility lighter and also contains an independent light source, i.e., a miniature lighting device commonly known as a penlight, key light, or miniature flashlight, specifically those that utilize a light emitting diode (LED) of high brightness as a light source.
2. Background of the Invention
Penlights and other miniature light devices have a wide variety of uses, from illuminating poorly lit areas and dark, narrow spaces for any number of reasons to locating keys and locks. They are often used to read documents in cars or in poorly lit areas, as well as to identify persons or things in such areas. In the absence of a flashlight or penlight, cigarette lighters are frequently used as a light source in situations where a penlight would be useful While lighters may work in some situations, there is always the danger of inadvertently starting a fire. Moreover, a cigarette lighter can be used for illumination only very briefly without the real danger of suffering a burn injury to the hand.
However, until very recently, equipping a piezoelectric lighter with a separate, reliable light source was simply impracticable because of the space requirements for the light source. The only cigarette lighters known to also contain an independent light source are those where an LED light is installed at the bottom end of the lighter, opposite to the end containing the burner and lighter actuator. In order to use such a light source, the lighter has to be reversed. This arrangement has several obvious disadvantages, especially if the light source is to be used in an unlit, dark area where the lighter may be lost or mishandled in the process of attempting to operate it. More significantly, a piezoelectric lighter with the LED light assembly at the bottom end—an assembly that requires at a minimum the LED device, a power source and a switch mechanism—will utilize almost as much space as the lighter components, which would include a piezoelectric unit, a fuel reservoir, a gas line and burner assembly, as well as an actuator to ignite the lighter. In the ordinary course of use, such a cigarette lighter would have an abbreviated life. First, because the light source is at the bottom, the LED assembly would receive many shocks since that end of the cigarette lighter would always be regarded as the base end and would be handled accordingly. Thus, the likelihood of it breaking is twice that of the ordinary lighter.
More important, however, a piezoelectric lighter with an LED light assembly at its bottom end would have to have a very small and limited fuel reservoir because of the space utilized for the LED light assembly. Thus, if such a lighter is not refillable, its usefulness as a lighter would be extremely limited, as would be its marketability. It would probably be discarded before its light source expires. On the other hand, even if it is refillable, it will have to be refilled twice as often as an ordinary refillable lighter, having half the fuel capacity. In either case, a piezoelectric lighter with a LED light assembly at the bottom end would have less commercial value than one with the LED light at the top end of the lighter. The present invention remedies those disadvantages by incorporating the LED light source into the actuator behind the burner of the lighter.